Gallon Environment Letter – the daily edition – a policy letter from the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment

US investor owned utility association signs leading edge agreement

The Edison Electric Institute, the major US association of shareholder-owned electricity companies, has, in partnership with major US environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, signed a joint statement to state utility regulators that could become a model for many other industry sectors, especially those involved in selling commodity goods. Key elements include the electricity companies agreeing to sell energy services instead of electricity; The joint statement includes the following concepts:

the retail electricity distribution business should not be viewed or regulated as if it were a commodity business dependent on growth in electricity use to keep its owners financially whole. Instead, utility businesses should focus on meeting customers’ energy service needs.

payments for use of grids by owners and operators of distributed generation systems.

working together to ensure that energy efficiency services reach underserved populations,

helping electricity users take advantage of all cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities through an integrated combination of financial incentives to customers and minimum standards governing the performance of buildings and equipment; and

asking regulators to support significantly enhanced utility investment in ‘smart meters’ and a ‘smart grid’ that focuses on delivering new energy management tools to customers, enabling increased energy efficiency, supporting efficient new technology such as plug-in electric vehicles, and reducing the cost of integrating renewable energy generation with variable output into resource portfolios.